I Don't Have A White Horse
by embracing-shadows
Summary: Sometimes it isn't who you're not, it's how others see who you are.


Disclaimer: I own nothing but the plot!

* * *

Nick got to choose the radio station in the car that day, on the way to a crime scene. It was a long established pattern that they would take turns, and today it was Nick's choice. Of course he chose country, and of course Greg made comments. But when that song had come on the radio, he had fallen unnaturally quiet. Where he would usually complain and whine and vocalize exactly why he thought the song was awful and overly cheesy, he just sat and stared out the window while listening to the lyrics. It worried Nick, but the Texan just went along with it for the sake of the novelty of silence if nothing else. As soon as the song was over he expected his friend to start up with the commentary, but nothing came. Greg remained quiet the rest of the ride to the crime scene, and it lasted the rest of the night as well.

After a few hours Nick figured that his friend must have started to feel a little under the weather and just didn't want to worry anyone. And he stuck with that explanation until a couple days later when he caught Greg listening to the song all on his own. The DNA tech was home sick for the day, so Greg was covering for her. He sat with his back to the door, but the radio playing the song was sitting close to the entrance that Nick stopped just inside of. He frowned when he recognized country, and then frowned deeper when he realized it was the same song that had silenced the blonde a few days before. Then his eyebrows shot up to disappear in to his hairline, because Greg was ever so quietly singing along.

_I'm not a princess  
This ain't a fairytale  
I'm not the one you'll sweep off her feet  
Lead her up the stairwell  
This ain't Hollywood  
This is a small town  
I was a dreamer before you went and let me down  
Now its too late for you and your white horse  
To come around_

He didn't seem to realize that someone else had come in to the room and noticed the completely out of character music that he was listening to. Nick just stood and watched him as he worked away at a job he had left behind a long time ago. Every time he turned his head Nick could catch a glimpse of the sad look on his face, and he knew that this definitely was not the first time Greg had re-listened to this song. He furrowed his brows worriedly and listened while Greg sang along to the last chorus.

_I'm not your princess  
This aint a fairytale  
I'm gunna find someone some day  
Who might actually treat me well  
This is a big world  
That was a small town  
There in my rearview mirror disappearing now  
And it's too late for you and your white horse  
Now it's too late for you and your white horse  
To catch me now_

His frown deepening even more, Nick leaned over and pressed stop on the stereo. The song stopped playing, but Greg didn't look up. He just kept working, waiting for Nick to react or something. The older man stood there for a short while, unsure of what to do, until he just stepped forward slowly. As he approached Greg he could see those slim shoulders droop a little more under the weight of the lab coat covering them.

"I'm certainly no princess," Greg muttered in to what ever it was that he was doing. Nick tilted his head, wondering in which way he meant that statement. He took another step closer so that he was standing right behind his friend, and he laid a hand on his drooping shoulder comfortingly. Greg stopped what he was doing at the contact.

"You could be the prince," Nick offered in a gentle voice. Greg sighed, making his shoulders rise and fall back under Nick's hand, and he shook his head. When he looked up and around behind himself his eyes were clouded and he looked very sad.

"It's always the prince that does the saving. Maybe sometimes I want to be saved." He stopped and twisted his mouth ironically. For a minute or so they just stared at each other. Then Nick squeezed the shoulder he was holding a little more tightly and he smiled a little. Greg looked confused by this response to his obvious loneliness, but the older man was quick to explain himself.

"Come out with me after work, I've got somewhere I'd like to take you." He smiled encouragingly and waited while Greg mulled that over. Going out might actually do him some good, and usually any place that Nick wanted to go turned out to be great fun. Any way he looked at it, it was better than sitting at home and moping around. By the time he looked up the warm hand had slid away from his shoulder and Nick was walking away. He all the way to the door when Greg's voice stopped him and made him look back.

"Where are you taking me?" Nick paused to lock eyes with him and Greg found himself drowning, just like he always did, while he waiting for his answer.

"Away," the Texan replied with a small smile. Then he was gone, and Greg was left staring at the doorway for a long time afterwards, wondering what he meant. Away. Any place but here could be away. His own imagination could take him 'away'. He sat there pondering Nick's last statement for so long that he forgot to actually do some of the work he was supposed to be helping out with. Catherine came in after some time and it took her three tries to get through his daydreaming. He gave her a guilty look and apologized for not having her results yet, then set to work on them right then with her watching him. But his mind wasn't in his actions.

His mind remained aloof for the rest of the night, and who ever came in to the lab found it increasingly difficult to get his attention. Even worse was trying to keep the attention once you managed to get it. But shift was finally over and Greg was slowly slipping on his shoes in the locker room, a million miles away in his own head. He didn't realize he had been just sitting there motionless until a hand landed softly on the top of his head, and then he turned and looked up. Of course it was Nick, smiling down at him like he was adorable or something. Which Greg knew was ridiculous, but that was the only way to describe the look on his friend's face.

Nick asked if he was ready to go and he nodded, curious to see where he was being taken. He shut his locker and followed Nick out to the parking lot, slipping in to the passenger seat of the older man's car. His own was conveniently in the shop, and he had walked an hour and a half to work that day. When they were both buckled up Nick pulled out of the lot and headed in the opposite direction of both their homes. Greg waited for fifteen blocks before he got really curious, and he waited four blocks past the strip to begin with to wonder. He was about to finally open his mouth and just ask where they were headed, but that was when Nick reached in to his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He dialed the number blind from memory, and it must have rang about four times before someone on the other end picked up.

"Hey it's Nick, you want to set up for me?" he listened for a moment then smiled to himself. "Yeah something like that. Listen, I'll be there in ten minutes, can you be outside waiting?" he paused again to hear what ever was being said. "Thank you, see you soon." He snapped the phone shut and slid it back in to his jeans pocket, studiously ignoring the curious stare he was getting. Greg waited for him to explain what that call was all about, but he got only silence. After a while he couldn't take it anymore and he started begging for answers, but Nick wasn't giving him any. Frustrated but in a completely good way, he crossed his arms and pouted to hide his own grin. It didn't fool Nick for a minute.

The rest of the ride was as silent as the beginning, but eventually they were just past the Vegas limits and were pulling up a dusty lane towards a collection of large wooden buildings. Greg took his eyes off of where they were going to close the window against the dust, and by the time he returned his eyes to the road they were close enough for him to make out the shape of barns. He smiled across the car at Nick and shook his head. You can take the man out of the cowboy state…but you can't make the man stop being a cowboy. When the car stopped he stepped out and followed his friend towards the closest barn. But just as they were coming up, a tall blonde woman stepped out leading the biggest horse Greg had ever stood next to. Ok, so that that wasn't really fair because he'd never stood next to a horse in his life. But still, the animal was tall!

"Thanks Mary. I owe you one." Nick smiled as he took the reins from the blonde woman. She mock glared at him.

"Yes, you do," she replied matter-of-factly. Then she strolled away without another word. When she was gone Nick patted the horses neck and turned to smile at Greg. He nodded his head towards the tall animal and gave Greg a meaningful look, which the Californian realized the implications of right away. He gave his friend a lengthy stare before caving and shrugging his shoulders. If Nick could do it, so could he. Trying not to think about it he placed his foot in the stirrup and heaved himself upwards, swinging the other leg up and over. Before he knew it, he was sitting stride a horse for the first time. He looked down at Nick and smirked in triumph, earning him a proud little smile.

What Greg really should have expected, yet didn't see coming, was for Nick to then place his own foot in the stirrup and smoothly flow up on to the horse to sit right behind Greg. Neither of them said a word as Nick reached his arms around Greg to grasp the reins, then he gave them a little snap and clicked his tongue, and the horse obediently moved forward. Greg let his hands sit in his lap as they casually strolled away from the complex of barns and up in to the mountain ranges. Within minutes they had passed over the top of the first hill and the sounds of the city had faded away. The only things around them were rolling hillsides covered in green grass and the wind that blew in back and forth. The silence was as beautiful as the scenery. After a while of getting used to the rocking sensation of riding a horse, Greg felt Nick lean a little closer and speak in a hushed, reverent voice.

"Where would you like to go?" he asked, as if Greg would have any idea. The blonde smiled and looked around at the oceans of valleys and hills surrounding them. He turned his head ever so slightly so that he voice would carry backwards, but he didn't look back at his riding partner.

"I'd like to fly," he said casually. There was a pause, a long one, then Nick's arms were wrapping themselves securely around his waist and pulling their bodies close.

"Then fly we shall," he heard, just before the reins gave a tight snap and the horse leapt forwards. He gave a startled but pleased cry, and then they were flying. There was a rhythmic pounding in his ears and the wind was rushing by them, flattening his hair to his skull and making his eyes water. The surge of the muscles flowing beneath him had an electric feeling, and the warmth pressed against him from behind set his head spinning. Suddenly he realized he was smiling wider than he had smiled in the last few days, and he knew Nick was looking around to see his smile. Briefly he closed his eyes and enjoyed the sensation that they really ere flying, and the ground had fallen away, then he opened them and smiled as they flew together across the mountains under a brilliant sunrise.

It seemed forever until they stopped, having reached the edge of a ridge. They could easily have gone around it and descended in to the valley below, or even continued across the plain they were running across, but the view was spectacular and they both wanted to enjoy it. They sat together quietly for a while until Greg felt Nick shifting behind him and the Texan's voice broke the silence that had coated them since the beginning of their adventure.

"I don't have a white horse," he murmured in to Greg's suddenly attentive ear. "He's more of a dapple gray actually. But, do you think he'll do in a pinch?" Greg twisted around and stared at the man sitting behind him, and he was met with a calm tender gaze. He knew his face was filled with surprise, but that was quite surprising. This whole day was. As he gazed in to Nick's eyes he could see the reason behind all of this, and he smiled. He turned to face forward again and let his body lean back to press in to Nick's. Arms wrapped around him again and he settled his head backwards on to a strong shoulder as he sang to himself softly.

_I'm not a princess  
But this is my fairytale  
I know you could sweep my off my feet  
Lead me up the stairwell  
This ain't Hollywood  
But this ain't no small town  
I am a dreamer I know you'll never let me down  
Now it's high time that you and your white horse  
Had come around_

He smiled again and waited, feeling as if suddenly every weight he had been holding on his shoulder for the last half a dozen years was suddenly lifted and blown away. The wind ruffled his hair and for some reason he felt cleansed, like it was dusting him off of his every worry and trouble. His eyes closed when a hand came up to entwine in his hair and Nick sang softly back to him.

"Baby I swear that me and my gray horse, will catch you now." He smiled widened impossibly as he turned his head and they met in a soft lingering kiss. Then they just sat there and stared at each other in the growing light.

"I thought I was the prince," Greg said at last, eliciting a small humorous chuckle.

"You are," Nick replied. Greg chuckled back, intrigued with this never before heard of storyline.

"Then who are you?" he asked. Nick thought for a moment before he ran a gentle hand down the side of Greg's face, his face enraptured. The expression on his face was like none Greg had seen before, and he decided he would do anything to see it again.

"I am the scullery boy, come to sweep Prince Charming off his feet, and thereby negating every fairytale ever written." He smirked as Greg's heart melted in his chest. "Now what do you say we ride off in to the sunrise? Think it'll do in the absence of a sunset?" Greg was sure he couldn't be any more in love than he was right at that moment. He struggled to convince himself not to wake up, and yet he knew with a clarity that this was the first real thing he had experienced in all his life.

"As long as you're with me, and as long as we're always together, we can go anywhere your heart desires," he murmured, placing his hands over the ones that rested against his abdomen. Nick leaned in and pressed a soft kiss to his lips once more before flipping the reins and suddenly they were flying again, across a sea of grass, and towards a future of love.


End file.
